Conquering Your Fears of Photographing Strangers
One of the things I enjoy the most about leading the Antigua Photo Walks is to share my approach to photographing strangers and seeing how photography enthusiasts dramatically transform from being timid to really overcoming their fears and making beautiful candid authentic slices of life and portraits of strangers.
I believe I have a fun and solid photography workshop/photo walk that produces consistent results for people. There are over one hundred 5-star reviews and recommendations on TripAdvisor to prove it. Let me share a recent review for a private photo walk. Make sure you book a photo walk with me next time you visit Guatemala.
“We loved our time spent with Rudy, a photographer, historian, coffee connoisseur and all ’round great guy”
My husband and I very much enjoy wandering around the places we visit, getting to know the local areas and hanging with the people; if we are fortunate enough to absorb some history along the way, AND bring home photographic memories of our trip, we feel blessed indeed. Imagine our delight then, at meeting Rudy Giron and having an entire morning to spend with him, walking the bustling streets of Antigua, honing our photography skills and literally getting up close and personal with the local people.
Before we left our hotel, Rudy spent over an hour with us, sharing an extremely well created presentation on the technical and artistic elements that contribute to a pleasing photograph, and discussing where we would go and what we would look for…our “assignments” per se.. Then we hit the streets and for the next several hours, we watched and learned and practiced and “saw”; we tried different street photography techniques, came to understand what framing a photo can really mean (and that included thinking well outside the typical “framing” box and learning to anticipate the perfect shot) and before the morning was over, had fine tuned the use of our camera such that the apparatus that captures light and makes memories, but often seems daunting to use and easier to put away FINALLY made some sense.
A really important point to mention is that Rudy teaches his pupils how to take pictures “hands on”, not by lecturing in a classroom about the settings on a camera or describing situations that require particular elements of the camera to be in use. He lets you hold your camera, take a shot and possibly miss what you wanted, so he can patiently show you (no matter the make or model of your device) how to make a different choice, use another approach, take the picture at a different time of day, etc. Rudy actually TEACHES and in the process, his students take away knowledge they can use and build on for years to come.This is far more valuable than a classroom situation and so much more important for skill retention. We were very very grateful for his methods and his patience.
I wish I could spend another session with Rudy and if I ever get back to Antigua, it will be my very first activity.People–don’t miss this photo walk, and book it early in your vacation, so you have plenty of time to practice what you learn. OH and definitely go for coffee with him…you’ll learn a ton about that too!
BEST PHOTO WALK I HAVE EVER DONE!! FIVE STARS FOR SURE. — Debbie, Calgary, Canada
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